have brought this misfortune upon
me! I can only say, 'Woe to them!'"

"Woe to you!" cried her mother. "Woe to the seducer who has persuaded
our child to sin and crime, and--"

"Hush mother! I will not permit you to slander him whom I love, and ever
shall, so long--"

"Until you forget him, and love me, Marie," said Ebenstreit. Approaching
her, he seized her hand, and pressed a kiss upon it.

She drew it away with disgust, and turned slowly to the door, tossing
back her head proudly. "Where are you going?" demanded her mother.

With her hand upon the knob, she replied, turning her pale, wan face
to her mother, "To my own room, which I suppose is permitted to me, as
there is nothing more to be said."

Her mother would reply, and retain her, but her son-in-law held her
gently back. "Let her go," said he; "she needs rest for composure and to
accustom herself to the thought that her fate is unavoidable."

"But what if she should resort to desperate means in her mad infatuation
and foolish passion? Some one must watch her continually, for she may
try to elope."

"You are right, dearest mother, some one must be with her, in whom she
will confide. Would it not be possible to win old Trude?"

"No, nothing would gain her; she is a silly fool, who thinks only Marie
is of consequence."

Ebenstreit shrugged his shoulders. "That means that she would sell
herself at a high price. I beg that you will send for her."

"You will see," said she, calling the old woman, who entered from the
opposite door.

Trude looked about, scowling and grumbling. "Leberecht told me my
mistress called me."

"Why do you then look so furious, and what are you seeking on the
table?" asked Frau von Werrig.

"My money," cried Trude, vehemently. "I thought that you called me to
pay me, and that my wages were all counted out on the table. But I see
there is nothing there, and I fear I shall get none, and be poor as a
church-mouse all my life long. Your honor promised me positively
that, as soon as the wedding was decided upon, you would pay me every
farthing, with interest, and I depended upon it."

"You shall have all, and much more than the general's wife promised you,
if you will be a true and faithful servant to us," said Ebenstreit.

"That I always have been, and ever shall be," snarled Trude. "No person
can say aught against me. Now, I want my money."

"And obstinate enough you have been too," said her mistress. "Can you
deny that yo